Stuart Lancaster appointed interim England coach
STUART LANCASTER was today appointed England’s Interim Head Coach for the 2012 RBS 6 Nations.
Lancaster, the RFU Head of Elite Player Development and England Saxons Head Coach, will be assisted by Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell, who will be seconded from Aviva Premiership Champions Saracens.
“All three of us are really excited about the opportunity ahead. Andrew has done an outstanding job at Saracens and the Saxons; Graham has enormous respect from the players and has vast experience and I am confident that we can work well together as a coaching team,” said Lancaster.
“The World Cup was enormously disappointing but we shouldn’t forget that England won 10 out of 13 games this year and a Six Nations title. We have a promising group of players to go forward with and the challenge for Graham, Andy and myself is to get the best out of them.”
RFU Acting Chief Executive Stephen Brown said: “It was important that, following the recommendations of the Professional Game Board and the commitment we made as an RFU Board last week to implement them, an Interim Head Coach was appointed as soon as possible.
“Stuart is not only an experienced coach but his role as Head of Elite Player Development puts him at the forefront of producing international players. He will be well supported by Graham, with all his experience with England and the British Lions and Andy, who has helped Saracens become one of the leading clubs in the country and we are grateful to them for allowing Andy to join us on a temporary basis. We believe this coaching team is the right one to collectively take England forward in the short term.”
Profile
A level 5 qualified coach, Stuart Lancaster has been Saxons Head Coach and the RFU’s Head of Elite player Development, straddling all of England’s age group and development sides, since 2008.
During his tenure England Saxons have won 12 out of 14 matches, picking up three Churchill Cups on the way (’08, ’10, ’11); England U20 have been in three out of four Junior World Championship finals and last year secured an RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam; and the U18 side boast an 89% win record since the start of the 07/08 season.
Penrith-born Stuart, a former PE teacher, has galvanised his success that began with Leeds Carnegie. A flanker and captain in his playing days at Headingley from 1992-2000, he was the academy manager there from its inauguration in 2001 until 2005 and developed some of the brightest prospects in the game.
He was then appointed as Carnegie’s Director of Rugby and led them back to the Premiership following a title winning season in 2006-07.
As a player, Stuart first laced up his boots when ten at St Bees School where he was educated and became the first Leeds player to appear in a century of games for the club formed in 1991 from the amalgamation of Headingley and Roundhay.
High spots in a career that produced junior county honours at cricket feature the 2010 Churchill Cup in which the Saxons beat Russia (49-17), the USA (32-9) and Canada (38-18) to lift the title with a try ratio of 15 to four. Beating Otley to secure promotion to the Premiership with Leeds and guiding the Carnegie Academy to win T’owd Tin Pot, the Yorkshire Cup, against senior opposition stands highest on his club pedestal. Dating back to 1877-78, it is reputed to be the oldest rugby union competition in the United Kingdom.
Outside the game, Stuart’s wife Nina and kids Sophie and Dan share in his triumphs and outside interests and in his formative years, he says: “Peter Winterbottom was the player I most admired.” The accomplished and combative ‘Winters’, a fellow Headingley flanker known affectionately as the ‘Straw Man’, won 58 England caps and seven for the British & Irish Lions from 1982-93.
What is Stuart’s philosophy about the game? “The score will take care of itself!”
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